- Picard finds himself facing a strenuous test of his loyalty to Starfleet, one which the other members of the crew are struggling to cope with, whilst Wesley faces an equally challenging entrance exam at Starfleet Academy.
- Wesley is off to complete his Starfleet entrance exams and testing and makes friends with Mordock, another of the four candidates seeking admission. Only one of the four will be accepted into the Academy and the competition will be strong. Wesley is particularly worried about the psychological evaluation which will focus on what he fears most. He has no idea what that is, however. Picard's old friend, Admiral Gregory Quinn requests to be beamed aboard and arrives with Commander Remick from the Inspector General's office. Remmick is there to conduct a complete investigation of the ship's operations. His very presence is unnerving to both the Captain and the bridge crew and his questions to the senior officers all seem to indicate that it is Captain Picard who is under investigation with his decisions, judgment and reliability all in question.—garykmcd
- Wesley is stressed about the annual competition between four ace students for a place in Starfleet Academy. He proves his academic superiority even to a Vulcan, but due to his own generous assistance to runner-op alien Mordock, all still hangs on the 'psych test' he so feared. Meanwhile the Enterprise, staying around, gets a surprise visit from Picard's friend admiral Gregory Quinn, who refuses to state the purpose of a full, apparently hostile audit of the starship by Lt. Cmdr. Dexter Remmick from the inspector-general's office. Afterward, Picard must make a career-crucial choice.—KGF Vissers
- Wesley is off to complete his Starfleet entrance exams and testing on Relva VII, and makes friends with Mordock (John Putch), another of the four candidates seeking admission (along with Oliana Mirren and T'Shanik of Vulcan Regar). Only one of the four will be accepted into the Academy and the competition will be strong. Wesley is particularly worried about the psychological evaluation which will focus on what he fears most. He has no idea what that is, however.
Picard's old friend, Admiral Gregory Quinn (Ward Costello) requests to be beamed aboard and arrives with Commander Remmick (Robert Schenkkan) from the Inspector General's office. Remmick is there to conduct a complete investigation of the ship's operations. Quinn says he has reason to believe that there is something very wrong on the Enterprise.
His very presence is unnerving to both the captain and the bridge crew and his questions to the senior officers all seem to indicate that it is Captain Picard who is under investigation with his decisions, judgment and reliability all in question. They are questioned about Picard's decision making process during the Kosinski incident or the Ferengi incident.
During Remmick's presence, one of the passengers Jake Kurland (Stephen Gregory) steals a shuttle craft from the bay and escapes from the Enterprise. Jake was friends with Wesley and is disappointed for not being shortlisted for the academy test. Jake had lower test scores and hence did not qualify for the academy entrance exam. Jake intends to join a freighter to roam the stars. But he damages the shuttle craft engines and is headed to burn up in Relva's atmosphere. Tractor beams won't work and engines wont restart for 30 secs. Picard maintains his calm, gives precise instructions to Jake, and helps him avoid death by maneuvering his spacecraft out of the atmosphere.
Wesley has another spot test on Relva where he is confronted with a violent bully. But he notices a webbing on the bully's hand and understands it's a Zoldan who view courtesy as a sign of disrespect. Wesley becomes rude and the Zoldan gracefully backs off. The instructor is impressed. Wesley also helps other candidates when they struggle in the tests and shares helpful tips with them.
Meanwhile Remmick continues to investigate the ship. He questions and harasses every member of the crew to find out something wrong with the Enterprise. The crew is clear that they don't like Remmick, but they also cooperate with him and answer his questions professionally. Picard confronts Quinn and wants this charade to stop. Quinn asks Remmick to prepare his report.
In the psych test Wesley is faced with a simulated explosion on the test center. Wesley gets into the explosion area and finds hydrogen leaking from storage (which will blow at any second) and saves an old man. But he cannot save a frightened young person, who won't come out of the room, before it is sealed to contain the explosion. He later learns that this was a test. He had to make a choice and he did. The same way that Picard made a choice and Wesley's father died.
Mordoc is selected eventually, even though he says Wesley should be selected since he lost points for helping him. Picard consoles Wesley by telling him that he also failed the first time.
Remmick completes his reports and presents to Quinn that he couldn't find what Quinn was looking for, except a casual familiarity within the crew and a sense of family. Remmick says he would like to serve on board the Enterprise after his tour of the IG office is finished. Quinn finally reveals that the Federation is under threat from insiders. Someone is attacking the very fabric of the Federation and thus Starfleet want to be very sure about whom they want to trust. Quinn says he wants to promote Picard to admiral to take control of Starfleet academy. Picard declines as he wants to be on the bridge.
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